Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were many significant developments in the design of these big cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These kinds of machines dominated the construction market for both office and apartment block construction. Many of the top tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. As an alternative, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the standard practice.
Within Europe, there were key improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Often, construction sites were constricted places. Relying upon rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, ended up being too difficult and costly. A number of manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms which enabled sections of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it can grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
These specific cranes have long jibs and can cover a bigger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of building and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Then, this is the technique that became the industry standard.
From the 1960s, the main focus on tower crane design and development started to cover a higher load moment, covering a larger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. Moreover, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.